Florida Gators Fall 72-66 to South Carolina; Snapping Four Game Win Streak

A reoccurring storyline of the Florida Gators men’s basketball program: They begin to build momentum, then it all comes crashing down.

Their contest on Wednesday was a testament to that.

After taking down the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown on Saturday — in what could be the biggest victory the program has had in recent history — the Gators saw themselves ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since November of 2019 at No. 22.

Returning home to take on a 4-6 (2-4 SEC) South Carolina team in their first matchup as a ranked competitor, the Gators were expected to stay hot and add a fifth straight tally to the win column.

However — a defining characteristic of Mike White coached teams throughout his tenure — UF fell in defeat right as the tide was turning in their favor.

“Any time we get a little success, we tend to play bad and lose focus. I think that's what happened tonight,” sophomore guard Tre Mann had to say after the game.

Possessing a five-point lead coming out of the halftime break, up 40 to 35, the Florida Gators planned to ride the wave that carries them back from a 10-point deficit early in the contest to escape the always scrappy Frank Martin squad.

Stymied by a dreaded scoring drought — reminiscent of the ineffective offenses they employed in years past — the Gators allowed a 13-1 SCAR run starting with 6:37 remaining.

As a result, the Gators would not only squander the seven-point advantage they held when the run began but allow their inability to knock down a bucket in any form — making just one of their last ten shots — to be the deciding factor.

Led by Mann and Noah Locke on the offensive end — with 17 and 15 points, respectively — Florida failed to execute on opportunities in the paint consistently. When the final buzzer sounded, Florida accounted for just 30 of their 66 total points inside compared to 50 of 72 by SCAR.

As a result, their near-50% season shooting average took a hit as they shot just 40% from the field (and 28% from beyond the arc).

Meanwhile, the Gators defense was carved up by the AJ Lawson and Seventh Woods duo, accounting for 47.2% of South Carolina’s points on the evening; Florida was unable to combat the combination of easy finishes (17 made layups), second-chance points (20) and domination of the boards (43) necessary to take down the Gamecocks.

The disappointing showing likely booked them a one-way ticket back to unranked-land and created controversy surrounding their legitimacy come tournament time.

As the same team that has dominated as of late, playing at a high-level against all opponents that have stepped up to the plate, the success they sustained previous to this upset loss to the Gamecocks provided hope that the program was headed in the right direction.

Now, the momentum that has been built in the last two weeks has been diminished, and, once again, the “Is this Florida team a contender or a pretender?” question is posed.

While it’s hard to think all the bright spots that had seen to this point will magically disappear due to one poor performance, that question isn’t one requiring a knee-jerk response.

However, this is a common occurrence under head coach Mike White, creating a sense of caution when evaluating the remaining — and difficult — stretch the Gators are about to ensure.

Florida will look to bounce back this upcoming Saturday as they travel to Baton Rouge to face off against the 11-6 (6-4 SEC) LSU Tigers at 2:00 PM.